Windchill (32 page)

"Here we go." Cullen shot off, pushing into the office, warrant card out. "Mr Nelson?"

Nelson got to his feet and threw the laptop at Cullen, colliding with his left arm.

Cullen clutched it, pain searing his muscles. "You fucker!"

Buxton swiped with the baton, hitting Nelson across the throat. He pushed him to the ground, kneeling behind him, locking him in a wrestling hold.

Cullen staggered to his feet, clocking the fact a shredder was churning paper. He dived over and tugged the power cable from the wall.

"Give us a hand over here!"

Cullen looked over at Buxton. "What?"

"I need your cuffs! I used mine on the other guy!"

Chapter 85

Cullen leaned across the interview room table. "For the record, Mr Michael Nelson has decided to represent himself." He raised an eyebrow. "Please confirm that is correct."

Nelson sniffed. "That's correct, yes."

"Mr Nelson, we wish to speak to you regarding two murder cases, namely those of Andrew Smith and Keith Lyle. Under suspicion of murdering Mr Smith is one Kenneth Falconer. Under suspicion for the death of Keith Lyle is Dean Vardy. In both instances, the same alibi was given - Darren Keogh." He pushed a sheet of paper across the table. "This page shows transactions were paid by both Mr Falconer and Mr Vardy to a company called Windchill."

"And?"

"Curiously enough, Mr Keogh receives payments from the same company."

Nelson smiled, his eyes narrowing. "So?"

"Mr Nelson, this company shares premises with Nelson and Parker, your business."

"And?"

"You represented Mr Vardy as a defence lawyer."

Nelson leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table. "This is a lot of conjecture on your part, Constable. You've raided my place of work and impounded business-sensitive IT equipment."

"This IT equipment would, of course, include an item you threw, would it not?"

"It might." Nelson glanced away. "This is a charade."

"This is a formal police interview, Mr Nelson. I'd appreciate if you'd treat it as such."

Nelson pushed his glasses up his nose. "Please continue then."

"Why were you and Mr Parker the only people in this morning?"

"The rest were at clients or in court. Possibly on leave, either sick or planned."

"Thirty-five people were conveniently out of the office?"

Nelson blinked slowly before nodding. "That's what I said, yes."

"What's your connection to Mr Keogh?"

"We've done property conveyancing for him, I believe. That's all."

"Your firm represents Mr Kenneth Falconer as well, does it not?"

"Never heard of him. Must be one of Neil's clients."

"What can you tell me about this Windchill company?"

"No comment."

"Would that be because you're listed as a company director?"

Nelson sat back, folding his arms and keeping his gaze locked on the clock to his right. "No comment."

"Mr Nelson, what's the purpose of Windchill?"

"No comment."

"See, we've managed to get access to the records pertaining to that business. You're aware what an industrial classification is, yes?"

Nelson nodded. "I am, yes. We've set up a number of businesses for clients over the years."

"See this company is listed under code 80100. Do you know what that stands for?"

"Enlighten me."

"It means 'private security activities'."

"So?"

"So, why does a law firm have a sister company doing private security activities?"

"No comment."

"Mr Nelson, what are you playing at with that company?"

"Nothing."

"You're not using it to buy and sell alibis?"

Nelson blinked furiously. "Excuse me?"

"This business isn't there to sell alibis to criminals, is it?"

Nelson laughed. "Of course not."

"You've changed your response from 'no comment', I note."

"Please treat that as a 'no comment'."

"Mr Nelson, what does this company do?"

"No. Comment."

Chapter 86

"I gather congratulations are in order." Campbell McLintock beamed as he marched down the corridor to the interview room.

Leaning against the wall, Cullen frowned. "Excuse me?"

"Your other half received a promotion, did she not?"

"Aye, she did." Cullen rolled his eyes - how the hell did McLintock find out? He thumbed at the door. "Mr Keogh's waiting for you inside."

"Ah yes, of course." McLintock opened the door. "In that case, I shall join him."

"That's fine." Cullen put his foot in the door to stop it swinging shut and waited outside, checking his watch and scanning the corridor in both directions. Where was Methven?

Inside, McLintock took off his dark purple suit jacket and draped it on the back of a chair, revealing his lime green shirt, before taking out an array of stationery. He smiled at Keogh as he sat, locking eyes with Cullen before he tapped his gold wristwatch.

Cullen typed a text to Sharon.
How the hell does McLintock know about your promotion?

"Are you ready, Constable?"

Cullen looked up. Methven. He stood up. "Just about, sir."

"Apologies - I had to brief DCI Cargill on our progress." Methven rested against the doorframe. "How did it go with Nelson?"

"No comment."

"To be expected. Any ideas what they're up to?"

"Like I said earlier, I think they're buying and selling alibis."

"I'm of a similar mind. I've instructed DC Caldwell to dig out all cases represented by Nelson and Parker over the last few years."

"Good idea." Cullen shook his head. "Keogh's lawyer is here now. Campbell McLintock."

"Ah."

"Or we could speak to Parker, if you'd prefer. Heads or tails?"

"If heads is Keogh then let's go with that."

"Not Parker?"

"I'm not entirely convinced he'll give us anything Nelson hasn't, i.e. sod all." Methven scowled. "I fully expect he'll be playing the same game as his partner."

"You're probably right."

"There the pair of you are." Angela tottered down the corridor, one hand underneath her belly, the other clutching some papers. "Christ, it wasn't this bad with Jamie."

"I'm surprised you're even showing given how tall you are." Methven bellowed with laughter at his own joke.

"I do seem to give birth to absolute monsters." Angela handed them a sheet of paper. "Anyway, Charlie Kidd's been doing some digging into the laptop Nelson chucked at Cullen. The stuff he was working on wasn't encrypted. Everything else had been."

"And all the paperwork was shredded?"

"Aye. Not sure you want me to stick it back together?"

Methven shook his head. "We'll leave that for when we're really desperate."

"Hopefully after I'm on maternity leave, sir."

Cullen looked down the page, nothing more than a list of names and numbers plus a few other fields. He recognised Keogh, Falconer and Vardy on there. Jones, too. "So what's this?"

"Not entirely sure but we think it's a client list. Looks like Nelson was working on some sort of year-end accounts."

Cullen shook his head. "Does it give us anything?"

"Only another forty-six people to speak to." Angela shrugged.

"So we've no real idea what this company does?"

"Other than 'private security activities'? No, nothing."

"Vague as hell." Cullen leaned against the wall. "Cheers for doing that."

"No problem."

Methven gripped Cullen's shoulder. "Come on, let's see what Mr Keogh has to say."

"Aye." Cullen smiled at Angela then entered the room, still clutching the sheet. He started the recorder while Methven sat. "Interview commenced at ten twenty-nine on Friday the ninth of January 2014. Present are myself, Detective Constable Scott Cullen, and Detective Inspector Colin Methven. Darren Keogh is accompanied by his solicitor, Campbell McLintock." He rubbed his hands together. "Mr Keogh, what can you tell us about Windchill Limited?"

Keogh looked at his lawyer for a few seconds, getting nothing in return. "I've no idea what you're on about."

"Are you seriously telling me you've got no idea?"

"Absolutely none."

"Even though Windchill was paying you two grand a month?"

"Aye." Keogh swallowed.

"If someone paid me two grand a month, I'd wonder what it was for. The city council will be interested in this, especially as you're not reporting it." Cullen clicked his tongue. "See, if it was me, I'd have done some digging, maybe put the money in a savings account until whoever's it is came calling, looking for their cash. Not you, though."

"Eh?"

"You've been spending it, haven't you?"

Keogh looked away. "Might have been."

"No, you have. Your account is in overdraft, Mr Keogh. None of the
twenty-seven
payments you've received so far have been put away for a rainy day, have they?"

"I don't know anything about the money, I swear."

Cullen gave a mock grimace. "See, here's the other thing. Mr Vardy and Mr Falconer each paid money
to
this company. That's very interesting, especially when you consider who's giving them both alibis."

"I told you, I don't know-"

"Cut the crap, will you?" Cullen stabbed a finger at the sheet of paper. "You're providing alibis sold by Windchill, aren't you?"

Keogh looked again at his lawyer.

McLintock focused on Cullen, before pointing at the recorder.

Cullen leaned over. "Interview paused at ten thirty-four." He sat back. "What?"

"Constable, my client might know something. What would be on offer?"

"Depends on what your client has."

McLintock tapped his fountain pen on the desk. "Let's just say you're warm with your suspicion."

Cullen twisted round, arm resting on the chair back. "DI Methven, what do you reckon?"

He rubbed his chin. "If Mr Keogh was prepared to go on the record and testify in open court, I suppose we might be able to consider immunity from prosecution for providing a false alibi."

"That's what I thought." Cullen lightly shook his head. "What do you think, sir?"

"If Mr Keogh can prove there's some sort of criminal conspiracy at play here, then we could potentially be able to swing something."

"Okay." Cullen shrugged then nodded at McLintock. "Shall we?"

"After we've seen the offer formally presented."

Methven wagged his finger. "We're calling the shots here, Campbell. Info first, then the offer."

The lawyer whispered in Keogh's ear. He looked up at the ceiling for a few seconds, scratching his ear. "Aye, okay."

McLintock nodded slowly. "Get the tape rolling, Constable."

Cullen leaned forward again, starting the machine blinking again. "Interview recommenced at ten thirty-seven. Mr Keogh, please explain your relationship with Windchill."

"Okay." Keogh swallowed as he leaned forward, resting his weight on his elbows, fingers kneading his forehead. "They pay me two grand a month for providing what they call alibi services."

"What does that mean?"

Keogh clenched his jaw. "If a client gets caught doing something, I get called in by Neil or Mike. They send me a message on my phone telling me what to say if the police come."

"Jesus." Cullen glared at Keogh. "How many times have you done this before?"

Keogh looked away. "Once, two years ago."

Cullen flared his nostrils. "How did you get into this?"

"I was at school with Neil Parker."

Cullen felt sweat dripping from his armpits. "Were you with Kenny Falconer on the thirtieth?"

Keogh looked away. "No, I wasn't."

"And Dean Vardy?"

"I was, aye."

"You're changing your story?"

Keogh sniffed. "I am."

"But you're still saying Vardy was with you?"

"Aye. Dean was with me."

"Why are you sticking to that line?"

"Because it's the truth. Dean and I were in the pub."

Chapter 87

"This is a load of nonsense." Cullen got to his feet and wandered round to Parker's side of the desk, standing over him. "We've got one of your alibi providers on record blowing your operation wide open."

Parker smiled. "You've got nothing."

"We've got your computers and files. It might take some time but we'll get evidence to back it all up."

"You won't." Parker stood up, a good few inches taller than Cullen. "This will fall apart in court. It's one man's statement against ours."

"We've got financial transactions."

"Relating to what, though?"

"Providing false alibis."

"Really? Each transaction lists that as the reason for payment, do they?"

Cullen took a step forward. "Mr Parker, you've been paying Darren Keogh two thousand pounds a month for over two years."

"Mr Keogh's an old school friend of Neil's. Got himself into a bit of financial difficulty with a property venture a few years back. We were just helping him out."

"Through Windchill?"

"It's a charitable organisation for homeless people, hence the name. Mr Vardy and Mr Falconer both made donations to the fund."

"And they're reputable businessmen?"

"Please don't besmirch the reputation of our clients."

"Why weren't they paying this retainer to Nelson and Parker?"

"Because it's not a retainer. It's a charitable donation. Messrs Vardy and Falconer could, if they wish, have deducted the amount from their own tax liability."

Cullen frowned. "But it's registered as a limited company. Why's it not registered with the Charities Commission?"

"That level of transparency isn't particularly useful to the sort of business we want to run." Parker grinned as he sat again, looking up at Cullen. "We'd much rather give the money to needy cases such as Mr Keogh than waste it on bureaucracy."

"But you've been taking profits from the company?"

"Another of the benefits of being a limited company." Parker shrugged, eyes shifting to the scarred tabletop. "We've paid corporation tax on those earnings. It's all above board."

"Why's it registered as a private security business then?"

Parker sniffed. "An admin oversight, I suspect."